What we drink and how we live: Michael Braverman uncorks the Hamptons.

10/22/2010

Halloween Wines: Fun to Talk About. But to Drink?

Egri Bikaver, which translates as bull's blood, is a famous Hungarian wine with, of course, a legend, this being Central Europe. There are actually quite a few legends, all along this line:

In 1552, Eger, a baroque city in Hungary’s Beech Mountains, was under siege by strong Ottoman armies. The soldiers and citizens, in a happy hour for the history books, drank large quantities of the local, deep red wine, fortifying themselves and also spilling plenty of wine. This breach of manners can be excused by the circumstances and a wartime lack of cocktail napkins. Word spread among the Turks that the red liquid all over the Hungarian’s chests and beards and armor was bull’s blood, which they drank to make themselves fierce. The Turks beat a quick retreat from these indomitable and bullish warriors, and the Ottoman advance into Europe was halted temporarily.

I’ve never come across Egri Bikaver in the Hamptons, and I don’t think I’d go out of my way to find it, even for Halloween. It sells for $8 or so, and some wine bloggers out there seem to like it.